text and bleed

I received this message " The margins of your manuscript are not large enough. Please revise your manuscript’s margins so that all text and images are at least .5” away from the edge of the page, or format your document for full bleed printing:"

the margins are .5" and bleed is 0.125" as described in the documentation.

but... I do have text outside the margin, but inside the bleed area. Can this be what is causing the error!?!?! and if so how do I resolve it so the text is there where I want it?

That's exactly the point, you aren't supposed to have text outside the margins. Those margins are the ones they want for distribution so they can be sure that no text gets cut off in the printing process.

Why would anyone want text outside of the margins? The margins are there to be the boundary for the content. It's important so that the content does not get trimmed when the books are being bound. (If one wants to have an image behind the text frames then it has to be done as a page background).

To create full-bleed on the bound side of pages the left and right margins have to extend to the edge of the bind and the content still placed within the margins,, so that the centre of the content of two pages is at the centre of the two pages.

How you have got content outside of the margins is a puzzle, and the Header and Footer frames do not count as being outside for the purposes of page set-up, they still have to be distanced from the top and bottom edge of the page.

took 10 attempts to reply to this message because Lulu's login system is very faulty.

anyways..... it might puzzle you why I would want text in the margins but that is what I need.

apparently I have to go into details why I want text in the margins which bear no help to the context of the problem. I want to create tabs on the edge of the book that indicates which section I'm in. This will make it easier to flip in the book and come to the correct section. I do not see how this bit of information will help you to help me solve the problem.

The tabs I have seen in books are often projecting out of the book, part of a stiff card section start (within the cover though) or all the pages are clipped to create them in a sort of step fashion. That method is handy but I suspect few people have trouble with using TOCs and even bookmarks. If that tab or step method is not used then there's no advantage in marking the pages.

Kevin, you are being obtuse. As I said, I have books printed by Lulu that use graphical tabs as Crisium has asked for.

1. No, they don't stick out beyond the cover.

2. No, they are not die cut to be actual tabs.

3. No, as I already said in this very thread, a TOC will not do the same job because it requires referencing directly instead of being able to just see what section of the book you are in by the tab colour on the page.

In fact, why do I bother responding to your posts when you ask questions that I have already answered?

I have three Lulu printed books that use these coloured tabs that are printed on the very edge of the page to indicate what section of the book you are in. This makes quick referencing a LOT easier than having to go to the TOC and then finding the page number.

That said, of these books, only one uses text in the tabs - and it is one that is not in distribution (just direct sale through Lulu).

"If your book is intended for distribution, any text within an image must be positioned at least .5 inches (.635 cm) from the edge of the finished page size."

This is because a lot of the Lulu's distribution partners don't print with the same exact trim as Lulu does, therefore the text in the tabs may be trimmed, making them less useful (unless they are also in colour).

My recommended workaround is to use graphical icons inside the graphical tabs instead of text. I also recommend that you use coloured tabs and not a B&W print job, as I've noticed that the tabs are a lot more functional for me when in colour.

Thank you DysonLogos this is what I thought it was, but I was a little unsure.

Going to change the text to an image.

and I agree with your last comment, my tabs are there to make it easier to flip to the section the user is interested in. It is a gymnastics book for levels 1-5 and each section has a tab indicating if it is level 1, level 2, level 3 ect...

As I said, I have books printed by Lulu that use graphical tabs as Crisium has asked for.

1. No, they don't stick out beyond the cover.

2. No, they are not die cut to be actual tabs.

Then they serve no purpose because one has to open the book and then flip through the pages to find them.

3. No, as I already said in this very thread, a TOC will not do the same job because it requires referencing directly instead of being able to just see what section of the book you are in by the tab colour on the page.

The TOC tells people the page number to look for, and the contents of a page cannot be seen until it's opened, even if some content is on the very edge. It would even be hard to spot coloured right through paper unless an entire chapter/section is on coloured right through paper. This is why when tabs are used they are literal tabs.

In fact, why do I bother responding to your posts when you ask questions that I have already answered?

Because they make no sense? And why do I bother to reply when you don't accept my valid observations?

I have three Lulu printed books that use these coloured tabs that are printed on the very edge of the page to indicate what section of the book you are in. This makes quick referencing a LOT easier than having to go to the TOC and then finding the page number.

And you can see them without having to open the book? I doubt that.

That said, of these books, only one uses text in the tabs - and it is one that is not in distribution (just direct sale through Lulu).

"If your book is intended for distribution, any text within an image must be positioned at least .5 inches (.635 cm) from the edge of the finished page size."

This is because a lot of the Lulu's distribution partners don't print with the same exact trim as Lulu does, therefore the text in the tabs may be trimmed, making them less useful (unless they are also in colour).

Indeed, I did already say that.

My recommended workaround is to use graphical icons inside the graphical tabs instead of text. I also recommend that you use coloured tabs and not a B&W print job, as I've noticed that the tabs are a lot more functional for me when in colour.

For them to be trimmed off? The same applies no matter if it's text or some icon.